The city of Durres, since its foundation, was protected by surrounding walls built with cyclopean blocks. On this basis, in the following centuries until the Illyrian and Roman civil periods, the city walls were expanded along with its topographical development. The surrounding walls that can be seen today were built by the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I (491-518) originally from Durrës, after the damage caused by the catastrophic earthquake of 345. He protected the city with three rows of brick walls, of which 500m length is preserved on the South-West side. The perimeter of the fence reached 3.5 km, height 18 m and width 3.50 m. This defense system was reinforced with pentagonal towers, 60-65m apart. The later interventions are those of the Emperor Justinian (527-565). Also, later, in the c. XIIIth (1272) Charles Anzhu and in the century. XIVth (1350) Karl Topia, also performs defensive reinforcements. The passing of Durrës under the Venetian occupation (1392-1501) for 109 years was accompanied by interventions in the defensive system, with circular towers. Meanwhile, the Ottoman invasion on August 13, 1501 reduced the city to the South-Eastern edge (Lagjia Kala) by surrounding it with an 800m wall, 6 times smaller than the Byzantine enclosure.
Address: Durres
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